Necktie rack

ABSTRACT

A necktie rack is formed by a linked series of U-shaped tie holders, the base of the U of each holder being pivotally mounted in an aligned pair of rearwardly open recesses located in the opposite walls of an elongated, hollow, box-shaped back which is open at the rear.

United States Patent Inventor Dennis Thomas Deeley Birmingham, England 802,163

Feb. 25, 1969 Feb. 9, 1971 Laughton & Sons Limited Birmingham, England a British Company Mar. 5, 1968 Great Britain Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee Priority NECKTIE RACK 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl

Int. Cl.

maorsemi.....................IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 97,106,104,100, 86,l23,168;312/184; 248/225, 223, 68; 85/5CP, 5.5

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1903 Cullum 21 l/96UX 11/1936 Humphrey.. 211/96 10/1938 Randall 211/96 2/1950 Pestyner 21 1/96 11/1955 Sandford eta] 211/96 2/1966 Azar 248/68 7/1969 Lucietto et a1 248/220.5

Primary ExaminerRamon S. Britts Attorney-Kemon, Palmer and Estabrook ABSTRACT:- A necktie rack is formed by a linked series of U- shaped tie holders, the base of the U of each holder being pivotally mounted in an aligned pair of rearwardly open recesses located in the opposite walls of an elongated, hollow, box-shaped back which is open at the rear.

. PATENTEDFEB sum V 356L607 'i I I 'IIIII IIIIII "IIIIIIIII" NECKTIE RACK This invention relates to a necktie rack of the kind comprising an elongated back adapted to be fixed to an upright surface (such as a wardrobe door) with, in normal use, the longer dimension of the back being horizontal, several tie holders pivotally mounted on the back and spaced evenly apart along it and a link pivoted to each of the tie holders for moving all the tie holders simultaneously about their pivotal mounting on the back, between projecting and folded positions. In the specification the necktie rack is referred to in its normal horizontal position.

The present invention is concerned primarily with structural features which enable a tie rack of this kind to be manufactured from synthetic resin, especially by moulding the components.

According to the present invention in a necktie rack of the kind described the improvement comprises a back of hollow box shape open at the rear, top and bottom walls of the back which are shaped to define rearwardly open recesses and tie holders having pivot portions which are captive and located axially in the recesses.

Each tie holder may have a tie hanger portion extending from only one end, but preferably from each end of the pivot portion where it projects above and below the back. When the holder has two hanger portions the upper one is preferably directly over the lower one but the upper one may, if desired, be longer than the lower one in order to allow space for the pivotal connection of the link to the upper tie hanger.

The pivot portions may be made captive in the back in various ways. If either the back or the tie holders or both are made .of flexible material, the mouth of each recess may be made narrower than the associated journal of the pivot portion which is then snapped into engagement with the inner part of the recess.

When more rigid materials are used, formations may be provided at the mouth of each recess and at the associated journal which will allow the journal to pass through the mouth in one angular position only of the tie holder relative to the back.

This angular position may be one which the tie holder cannot reach when the tie rack is fully assembled.

Alternatively, or in addition, the formations of the recesses and associated journals of adjacent tie holders are so arranged that the angular positions for their entry into engagement with the back are different. A tie holder which reaches the entry position will then be restrained from disengagement by its neighbors and the link.

One form of necktie rack in accordance with our invention is illustrated by way of example in the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a section through a tie rack showing one tie holder;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one end of the tie rack;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross section of the tie holder along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of part of the back of the tie rack; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional side elevation of FIG. 4 showing two ad jacent tie holders in outline.

Only part views of the tie rack are illustrated since a complete rack is a repetition of identical units. A tie rack may include any number of tie holders but a convenient number would be l2.

One such unit is shown in FIG. I in which a tie holder is mounted in a recess 11 in a back 12. The tie holder 10 has two tie hangers 13 projecting out one above the other from the ends of a pivot portion 14, the hangers 13 being bent slightly near the pivot at 15 so that in the normal folded position the adjacent hangers lie stacked nearly parallel to the back 12. The free ends 16 of the hangers 13 are upturned and may be fitted with decorative caps 17.

The upper hanger 13 is formed near the bend 15 with a short boss 18 which is inclined upwardly and away from the pivot portion 14 to leave most of the hanger portion free for hanging a tie. A pin 19 extends up from the end of the boss 18 and parallel to the pivot portion 14 and engages a socket 20 in a link 21. The link 21 is a bar of trough cross section and each socket 20 inside the link is formed by a pair of spaced parallel projections 22 projecting from one side of the link 21 towards an identical pair of projections 22 on the opposite side of the link. The sockets 20 are spaced along the link 21 at the same distance apart as the recesses 11 in the back 12. A thin strip 23 of foam plastics is fitted to the base of the trough to take up clearances. As shown in FIG. 2 at the ends of the link 21, the trough cross section reduces to a terminal extension 24 and a hole in this extension 24 serves as a socket for the pin 19 of the hanger 13 at each end of the tie rack. The two pins 19 project through the holes and are fitted with retaining caps 17 which keep the link 21 engaged with all the pins 19. A small lug 25 projects down from each extension 24, one lug 25 sited to con tact the boss 18 on the inside as shown in FIG. 2, while the other lug 25 contacts its boss on the outside. The lugs 25 prevent the tie hangers 13 from opening out beyond the midposition where they are at right angles to the back 12 and the tie hangers 13 can be arranged to fold to the left or to the right depending in which of the two ways the lugs 25 are sited.

The pivot portion 14 of the tie holder 10 has two journals 26 inside the hangers l3 and between the journals 26 it has a central portion 27 which is cruciform in cross section as shown in FIG. 3. The ribs 28 of the central portion 27 fulfill two functions; the ends of the ribs 28 locate the tie holder 10 axially in the back 12 by engaging the inner surfaces of the top and bottom walls 29 of the hollow box-shaped back 12, while the edges of the ribs 28 project radially beyond the journals 26 to make contact with a supporting surface and thus urge the journals 26 away from the mouths 30 of the recesses 11.

In the journals 26 a segmental groove 31 is formed which faces in the same direction as the hangers l3 and which enables the tie holder 10 to enter a recess 11 whose shape is illustrated more clearly in FIGS. 4 and 5. The hollow, box-shaped back 12 is open at the rear with the recesses 11 opening rearwardly in the top and bottom walls 29. A nib 32 projects partly across one side of the mouth 30 of each recess 11 and the nibs 32 of the top and bottom recesses 11 for each tie holder 10 project from corresponding sides of the recesses. The nibs 32 of the adjacent recesses 11 project from the other side of the recesses. Only when the nibs 32 and the groove 31 are aligned can a tie holder 10 enter a recess 11 and alignment occurs when the tie hangers 13 are parallel to the back. Further the entry positions of adjacent tie holders differ by Also shown is a fixing screw hole 33 which is formed in a coaxial boss projecting across the open back 12. The number of holes 33 will depend on the length of the tie rack; two will normally be sufficient.

A necktie assemble the tie rack, the tie holders 10 are fitted to the back 12 by aligning the nibs 32. and the grooves 31. The link 21 is fitted to the tie holders 10 by pressing the pins 19 into the sockets 20 and fitting the caps 17 to the two end pins 19. In the folded positions the tie holders 10 are retained because, when one tie holder is in its entry position, adjacent tie holders are not. When the tie holders 10 are swiveled into the projecting position they are retained because the grooves 31 are not aligned with the nibs 32. A strip 34 of foam plastics can be inserted behind the ribs 28 of the pivot portion 14 to take up clearance and reduce rattling. The tie rack can then be screwed to a vertical surface and contact between the ribs 28 and the surface will ensure the tie holders will remain stationary when turned to any position.

The components of the tie rack described are moulded from a suitable rigid plastics material and the features of the components have been designed to simplify the moulding process. For instance, the tie hangers 13 are arranged to lie one directly above the other so that the parting plane of the moulding dies can coincide with the central axis of the hangers 13 and the pivot portions 14. The components may have any suitable surface finish such as metal plating or, for example, the tie hangers 13 may be sprayed with flock to increase the frictional grip of a tie on the hanger.

it will be appreciated that complementary formations other than nibs and grooves may be provided on the recesses and tie holders, Alternatively, if more flexible material is used, the groove can be omitted and the tie holder simply snapped into the recess.

I claim:

1. A necktie rack comprising an elongated back of hollow box shape open at the rear which is adapted to be fixed to an upright surface with its longer dimension horizontal, top and bottom walls of the back which are shaped to define a plurality of longitudinally spaced, rearwardly open recesses, a plurality of tie holders each having a pivot portion incorporating a pair of spaced journals which are located in a pair of recesses, one in the top wall and the other in the bottom wall of the back, a formation on the mouth of each of the recesses along at least one of said walls and a complementary formation on its associated journal which will allow the journal to pass through the mouth of the recess in only one position of the tie holder relative to the back, said complementary formations on adjacent recesses and journals being aligned for different angular positions of the tie holders relative to the back, and a link pivoted to each of the tie holders for moving all the tie holders between projecting and folded positions relative to the back.

2. A necktie rack as in claim 1 in which the formation on the mouth of each recess is a nib which projects part way across the mouth from one side only, the nibs on adjacent recesses each projecting from a different side of the mouths, and the formation on the journals is a segmental groove.

3. A necktie rack comprising an elongated back of hollow box shape open at the rear which is adapted to be fixed to an upright surface with its longer dimension horizontal, top and bottom walls of the back which are shaped to define a plurality of longitudinally spaced, rearwardly open recesses, a plurality of tie holders each having a pivot portion incorporating a pair of spaced journals which are located in a pair of recesses, one in the top wall and the other in the bottom wall of the back, a tie hanger portion projecting from one end of the pivot portion of each tie holder, a boss on each tie hanger portion, a pin projecting from each boss in a direction parallel to the pivot portion, and a link formed with a plurality of longitudinally spaced sockets, each of said pins engaging one of said sockets and at least two of said pins projecting through the link and being fitted with retaining caps. 

1. A necktie rack comprising an elongated back of hollow box shape open at the rear which is adapted to be fixed to an upright surface with its longer dimension horizontal, top and bottom walls of the back which are shaped to define a plurality of longitudinally spaced, rearwardly open recesses, a plurality of tie holders each having a pivot portion incorporating a pair of spaced journals which are located in a pair of recesses, one in the top wall and the other in the bottom wall of the back, a formation on the mouth of each of the recesses along at least one of said walls and a complementary formation on its associated journal which will allow the journal to pass through the mouth of the recess in only one position of the tie holder relative to the back, said complementary formations on adjacent recesses and journals being aligned for different angular positions of the tie holders relative to the back, and a link pivoted to each of the tie holders for moving all the tie holders between projecting and folded positions relative to the back.
 2. A necktie rack as in claim 1 in which the formation on the mouth of each recess is a nib which projects part way across the mouth from one side only, the nibs on adjacent recesses each projecting from a different side of the mouths, and the formation on the journals is a segmental groove.
 3. A necktie rack comprising an elongated back of hollow box shape open at the rear which is adapted to be fixed to an upright surface with its longer dimension horizontal, top and bottom walls of the back which are shaped to define a plurality of longitudinally spaced, rearwardly open recesses, a plurality of tie holders each having a pivot portion incorporating a pair of spaced journals which are located in a pair of recesses, one in the top wall and the other in the bottom wall of the back, a tie hanger portion projecting from one end of the pivot portion of each tie holder, a boss on each tie hanger portion, a pin projecting from each boss in a direction parallel to the pivot portion, and a link formed with a plurality of longitudinally spaced sockets, each of said pins engaging one of said sockets and at least two of said pins projecting through the link and being fitted with retaining caps. 